The snow has utterly vanished, and today it’s quite pleasantly mild and bright, though rain is predicted for later. It’s only 11am, and already I’ve been to the chemist’s to pick up my repeat prescription, to the printer’s to take delivery of my poetry books, and to the Rosary and Lion Wood to get my steps up after a day in yesterday. Quite a thrill seeing my poetry books, Under Cover of Day – 50 of them altogether – all snug in their package.
Back to last Friday. I dug the car out from under a pretty thick coating of snow and took it for a test drive, then returned to pick up Dot and her hearts for delivery to the church hall. No problem with any of this. The roads were pretty clear – even Aspland Road was easily drivable. Fred rang up as I was backing out of the drive; so I rang him back later to discover he had prostate cancer, though happily at an early, treatable stage. He is having radiotherapy. Also spoke to David and Julia about holidays; they have now booked a week in Blakeney for June, but I am a bit uncertain as to what to do, because I don’t want to mess up any Canadian plans.
Later we watched Young Guns, which I have to say was a pretty good western, if you like westerns, which I do.
Had a long chat with Lucy on Saturday about the Paston Heritage Society. She is moving from Bowthorpe to Horstead in a couple of months. Norwich beat Stoke 4-1, rediscovering their ability to shoot. Later we watched It Always Rains on Sunday, an old film set in the East End. I thought it was brilliant, catching the mood of the time perfectly, and starring Googie Withers, who is truly wonderful, despite her name.
Sunday was Valentine’s Day, and Dot sneakily made me a card, as well as sending me an e-card using her Jacqui Lawson account. I got her breakfast in bed, and we listened to the last of Virginia Mary Rolf, Season 2. We decided to skip Season 3. We had a Zoom service at the usual time, and a “proper” meal at the table! In this case it consisted of trout pate and flatbreads as a starter, one of our favourite soups as main, and a fruit salad afterwards. All accompanied by a rather nice rosé, which we demolished between us. Amy FaceTimed, and so did Andrew, who is not too well with a possible urinary tract infection. We watched the last episode of The Serpent, which was excellent.
By Monday it was definitely warmer, and nearly all the snow had melted. We watched India demolishing England on a turning pitch in the Second Test, and had a long chat with David and Chrissy on FaceTime. We posted Rosie’s birthday card and went for a walk down past the railway cottages and back along the river.
On Tuesday and Wednesday I wrote my Parish Pump pieces on Marcus Aurelius, Robert Walpole, Graham Greene and the Peak District. Went for a late walk on Tuesday – after a pancake lunch – up to the roundabout, down to the lights and then back down Riverside Road. In the evening I had a two-hour Zoom session with the Jurnet poets, including two or three from the USA, one from South Cambridgeshire and one from Korea. Bit of a mixed bag. I read Compline: the theme was Light and Dark.
Dot has been struggling with a bad back; so had had to restrict her violin practice. This is improved now, but she has a problem with the muscle in her neck, which can be quite painful. Oddly, I have an almost exactly similar problem, making it difficult to look right and causing a bit of a headache. It couldn’t be a side-effect of the vaccination, could it? That was four weeks ago now.
Yesterday I finished my sermon, and we watched Norwich beat Coventry 2-0, playing very well in the first half and a bit ineptly in the second, for some reason. England lost to India at cricket. We went to bed early because we were both feeling rather sorry for ourselves. I haven’t slept well for the last two nights. Perhaps it’s Lent-related… As part of St Augustine’s Way we are reading through some Psalms, and I’m having a go at writing some poems.